A South Africa-based Nigerian legal luminary, Dr. Oladejo Justus Olowu, on Tuesday assumed duty as the founding Dean of Law at the American University of Nigeria (AUN), according to an official statement released in Yola. AUN will apply for accreditation in late 2015.

Olowu, who was active in the Nigerian law practice before going into university teaching, worked as Professor of Law and Director of Postgraduate Studies & Research at the North-West University, Mafikeng, South Africa, having joined the NWU in January 2010. He previously worked for Walter Sisulu University and University of Fort Hare, both in South Africa.

“With his impressive background, credentials and experience, all of us at AUN are thrilled to welcome Dr. Olowu as our founding Dean,” said AUN’s President, Dr. Margee Ensign

On his vision for the new job, Professor Olowu said, “My focus is on how to jump-start our Faculty of Law on a glorious scale. That must be our commitment.”

After his first degree, Professor Olowu proceeded to the Nigerian Law School and was subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar in 1992. He has two Master of Laws degrees from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and the University of Pretoria, Pretoria, in conjunction with University of the Western Cape, Cape Town. At Notre Dame (2002-2004), Professor Olowu earned the doctorate cum laude in Juridical Science, having previously been at Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland (2003) for the Advanced Diploma in International Human Rights Protection. Professor Olowu is a Fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar and holds several awards in recognition of his interdisciplinary work.

The widely published professor began university teaching at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (1997-2000), where he had his first law degree in 1991, going on to the University of Ibadan, Ibadan (2000-2002), University of Notre Dame in the U.S.A., and the University of the South Pacific, Vanuatu.

His teaching and research interests embrace International Human Rights Law, Public International Law, Comparative Constitutionalism, and Legal Theory. He is widely published in many international peer-reviewed/refereed journals.

Photo shows AUN’s President, Dr. Margee Ensign.